


Cobalt

by themoistplinth



Series: Superheroes in Voltropolis! [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Crime Fighting, Dinner, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Puns & Word Play, Secret Identity, Struggling to hide powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 02:14:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14558640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themoistplinth/pseuds/themoistplinth
Summary: Keith's life as The Crimson Crusader is never easy-not only does he face up against super villains on his way to work, during his breaks and even on dates but he also has to deal with his annoying team mate Cobalt. At least he has Lance, even if their relationship is based on lies.





	Cobalt

Keith woke up, like he often did, feeling comfortable but positioned any way but. Months of dating Lance had taught him that both of them starfished when they slept and since moving in together most nights they had an unconscious fight for who could take up the most space on the bed. After a victorious streak of three nights Lance had finally broken Keith’s record and had him pressed up against the very edge of bed.

 

Groaning, Keith wiggled an arm free and unplugged his phone from the bedside table. No news alerts during the night, the city was safe. He logged onto Voltwitter, a social network site created by a local teen genius. No local trending hashtags beyond the regular **#WhoIsTheCrimsonCrusader** and **#SuperSelfies**. Nothing worth worrying about, just local nonsense.

 

He checked the time: 7:30. About ten minutes until he should be up. Or he could get up now and play a prank on Lance. He glanced at his boyfriend, wrapped half in a blanket in only boxers, drooling on his pillow. Keith allowed himself a soft smile. He couldn’t be mean to someone that cute. He settled for placing a soft kiss on Lance’s cheek and stroking his hair.

  
Slowly Lance began to come to, disturbed from his sleep by the affection. He let out a small whine at this.  


“C’mon Lancey Lance, you gotta wake up,” Keith whispered, “If you don’t you’ll melt into the bed.”

 

Lance buried his face into the pillow and mumbled out a complaint. Keith stroked the round corners of Lance’s ears that just barely poked out through his soft brown locks.  


“What was that babe?” he murmured.

 

Lance lifted his head just an inch from the bed. “I said I wanna be bed more than I want to be awake.” Lance let his head drop back down to the bed and let out another whine.

 

“If you’re a bed then how will I cuddle you?”

 

Lance let his head roll onto its side, now facing Keith with dazzling (if still sleepy) blue eyes. He considered Keith’s words. “I guess I’ll pick being awake for now.”

 

Keith gave Lance’s cheek another soft kiss. “I’ll make you fried eggs if you pull some clothes on,” he promised. In the two weeks Lance had lived with him he’d learnt this was the best way to lure Lance out of bed; coincidentally it’d been almost two weeks since he’d learnt how to cook fried egg and he was steadily getting better at it. He’d called in his closest, and only, friend Hunk to teach him how to cook them and it’d been an uphill battle. Usually he heated food with his hands or laser vision so it was hard to figure out how to use a stove, why to use a stove and why not to start a stove with his fire powers. Still Hunk, AKA The Golden Goliath, had claimed he’d even considered tasting one of his most recent attempts but he wouldn’t wait until Keith had learnt how not to overcook the whites.

 

“Make me eggs, I cover my legs,” Lance responded sleepily and let his face get reabsorbed into the pillow. Keith climbed out of bed, threw a shirt on with his boxers, and left the bedroom.  


The dining room/living area/kitchen that the apartment held had changed so much in the last two weeks. Before Lance it was a mess of pizza boxes, open cases and gadgets retrieved from supervillains he didn’t quite understand or trust. Now the sofa had a blue throw over it and the table had placemats on it to stop stains. Even the tall, narrow bookshelf Keith had been using as a way to store empty cans of soda now had books and mementos from dates together lining it.

 

Keith started heating oil in a pan as he lamented the bookshelf situation. On the one hand Lance’s assortments of books gave the room a much needed feeling of class, not to mention it warmed his heart to see the bear Lance won him from a carnival sitting on one shelf next to the first place prize of a couple’s dancing night-if there was one thing they loved it was a competition and with moves like Lance’s they couldn’t not win.

 

Keith put two slices of bread, one brown, one white, into the toaster. The shelf’s was a near perfect addition to the room, the only flaw being _the photo_. Lance had put it up at first as a joke then as a necessity for the living room. A signed and framed photo of The Caped Crusader, in all his spandex-y glory. A photo signed therefore by Keith.

 

The eggs began to cook and Keith used a sharp spatula to separate them, making sure the heat wasn’t too high. He’d signed the photo for Lance after the third or fourth time he’d rescued him from the perilous clutches of a minor villain. It was becoming a habit and Keith was crushing on Lance _hard_ so when Lance had as a joke asked for an autograph of course Keith had to do it for real and give it to him the next time he was kidnapped- he cringed over it for weeks before Lance asked him out (which was a whole other thing) and having a reminder of it sitting and staring at him in the apartment every day was torture.

 

The toast popped and Keith took them out, buttering both slices and throwing them on a plate. He pulled the eggs off the heat and put them each on a slice of toast, before pulling out his phone and taking a picture. He’d show it to Hunk the next time they caught up, though the last he heard about The Golden Goliath he’d disappeared so it might be a couple weeks. Disappearing wasn’t a huge deal asfar as supers go, he was probably dimension hopping, but it sucked for a social life.

 

Lance staggered his way out of the bedroom, clothes thrown on haphazardly yet still coordinated and attractive. Rarely Lance’s job requires him to change into a wetsuit, which Lance used as an excuse to wear loose clothes. Keith’s job as a dog trainer meant he also had to change clothes, which he used as a way to have an outfit that can easily and quickly be changed into his costume.

 

Lance sat down at the table and smiled as the eggs as they were placed in front of him; Keith could practically see the smell wafting into his nostrils.  


“Tomorrow I’ll make breakfast,” Lance promised, as he had the morning before, “And it’ll be fantastic I promise.”  


Keith hummed in agreement, pouring himself a glass of orange juice in lieu of actual food. He wasn’t a breakfast person, much to Lance’s dismay.  


Keith downed his glass and moved back to the bedroom to get ready for the day. After ‘accidentally’ blocking the door he pried loose the floorboard and pulled his costume on, throwing some clothes over the top. As he went about the remainder of his morning routine Lance, after washing up the breakfast gear, spent twenty minutes in front of the bathroom mirror doing various things. By the end of it Keith sat on the floor by the door on his phone scrolling through Voltwitter when Lance came over, ready to leave.

 

God he was gorgeous.

 

“Ready to go?” he said, holding out a hand to Keith. He grinned up and took it.

 

Walking down to the curb Keith and Lance talked inanely about unimportant things-the weird smell in the apartment, weather, their jobs. Lance and Keith both worked across town from each other so their morning walk together only took them as far as the front door. They gave each other a quick kiss and split up, going their own ways.

 

Normally Keith would lament his lack of time with Lance in the morning but today, about five minutes after he was gone, he found it to be a good thing; just a few minutes after he left Lance, Keith saw a plume of dark smoke rising up in the distance and he knew his morning commute would be more eventful than his boyfriend’s.

  
Keith searched frantically for somewhere to change into his costume, eyes darting to make sure no one was around. Thank the lord whatever madman designed Voltropolis gave it more alleyways than most normal people would ever need. No matter where Keith was in the city he always seemed to have somewhere to.

 

Keith ducked into the alley, looking frantic. The Crimson Crusader stepped out, looking confident.  


Shooting up into the air Keith scanned his surroundings for the source of a smoke-about three blocks away it looked like a small fire had started in a deli, with several floors of housing above. Keith shot his way down, readying his frost breath.

 

Arriving at the scene of the fire however it became clear that just frost breath wouldn’t quite cover the situation. A man with a large glowing staff, radiating enough heat that Keith could feel it from ten feet away, roared with laughter upon seeing Keith floating down. Several people lay unconscious, or worse, around his feet and the fire behind him only grew more and more fierce.

  
“This is what they send to face me?” the man howled, “The Crimson Clown? Pathetic!”  


“It’s Crusader you creep!” Keith retorted-why did people always get his name wrong? Was it really that hard to remember? “And I’m more than enough to take you on. Put out the fire or I’ll put it out for you.”  


Super-smack talk was a traditional part of a confrontation with any villain, no matter how cringy it felt to Keith. It was a good way to find their weaknesses, learn their tactics, their name, and a way for allies to start whatever plan they have. Today, like most days, Keith was on his own though, and the real threat wasn’t the jerk with the stick it was the fire steadily growing up the building. There could be any number of people still inside, not to mention the fire could spread to surrounding buildings.

  
“You control temperature don’t you?” the villain snarled, “So do I. But I don’t cool things off like you, Crimson Creep, I make it how it should be.” The man’s staff pulsed and the flames grew with it. “I make things hotter.”  


_Fire control then-easy to handle._

 

“You might control the heat but that won’t stop me from beating it out of you!”  


Not Keith’s best line but he had to act fast if he didn’t want to be late for work. He shot forward and ducked as the villain tried to smack him with his staff. Obvious move, easy to dodge, and left an opening for Keith to get a good smack in, knocking the wind out the man. Maybe if he could get the staff he could stop the flames…

 

The villain attempted to raise his knee and hit Keith in the face and he rolled, hitting the villain’s stable leg in the process catching him off guard. He slammed the staff into the ground for balance and another pulse shot out, making the flames lick the side of the building with concerning power. Anyone inside would be toast if he couldn’t finish this soon.

 

 _Speaking of toast_ Keith thought _I need a good finishing line. Something to do with fire._ Keith placed his hand against the floor and focused on the remaining cold in the area and shot out a stream of ice along the floor, wrapping itself around the villain’s staff and feet, holding him in place. _How about ‘What? Too hot for you?’_ Keith shook his head slightly. _God that sounds like something Lance would say. No, I’ve got it!_

 

Keith strolled along the icy ground to the villain who now sent regular pulses out desperately trying to melt the ice.  


“You know what they say creep,” Keith grinned, holding heat in his palm in preparation for a finishing blow, “If you can’t stand the heat-”

 

Before Keith could finish his quip a blue blur slammed itself into the villain, freeing him from the ice and knocking him out cold. The blur came to a stop on the ice, surprisingly well balanced, grabbed the staff and snapped it over his knee-immediately the flames the man had been controlling went out, along with the heat Keith had been holding in his palm. A different type of heat was growing however-an angry heat.

 

“What’s wrong?” The hero known as Cobalt smirked, “Too hot for you?”  


Keith snarled and stormed over to the man. Cobalt had been a hero just barely less time than Keith and the two had a rocky relationship to say the least. Not only was Cobalt an arrogant, self-centred glory chased who often put his allies at risk with his dumb stunts and risk taking he was incredibly immature. As if that weren’t enough, Keith could never trust the guy, no matter what.

 

One of Cobalt’s most useful powers was emotion manipulation-he could calm a villain’s anger or stop a panicking victim from giving away their location. How could anyone trust a guy like that?

 

His costume too was tacky and unoriginal-he wore a blue suit, with a blue-white cape, and a large C emblazoned on the centre. Honestly, it clashed and barely suited him. He had dazzling blue eyes hidden by a small blue mask that any idiot would be able to identify him without, making it a wonder he even still had a secret identity.

 

They’d met a couple times when Keith wasn’t in costume, which made it harder for Keith to stand him. He’d been _rescued_ by him before, it was embarrassing.

 

“I had him!” Keith yelled.

 

Cobalt shrugged, “Whatever you say Crimmy, but from where I was standing you were taking too long.” He gestured to the burnt out building behind him. “The building was going up too quick, who knows what could’ve happened to the people inside. I saved them.”

 

“Oh you think so?” Keith retorted, seething with anger the more he thought about Cobalt, “I had the villain trapped and on the ropes, you couldn’t have done any of that without me!”  


“You’re just jealous of me,” Cobalt smirked, before a streak of fire blazed across his face, throwing him to the ground. Keith stared down at his hands for a moment, wondering if it had somehow been him, before dodging out of the way of another ray.  


“You...you think that could beat me?” the villain snarled, “I am Dairugger! Master of flames! Wielder of heat!”  


“You’re a Z-List nobody burning down a deli, don’t oversell yourself,” Keith responded, getting ready to reflect Dairugger’s next attack. If Keith could make him angry enough maybe it would be enough to drain the villain and knock him out for longer.  


“You have no idea do you?” Dairugger grinned, showing a large array of sharp teeth, “You don’t know a thing.” Dairugger’s skin began to glow a hot red and he held his arms close to his chest. “And now you never will.”  


Sensing what was coming Keith through his arms out as Dairugger exploded outward, his fiery power acting like a bomb moving outward. It took all of Keith’s power to stop if from expanding outwards, but eventually he would either run out of strength or have to let go, and the explosion would happen anyway. Heat began radiating off of his body, melting the ice around him, sweat dripping down his forehead.

 

Cobalt stood up next to Keith, a nasty looking burn on his cheek, and thew his arm out too. As he did the water from the melted ice, the sweat from Keith’s forehead (gross) and the water from a nearby fire hydrant, which exploded outward loudly, shot out forward engulfing the bubble of fire that used to be Dairugger. Cobalt’s face tightened in frustration and Keith could feel the fire getting easier and easier to control as it was put out. Soon he had nothing left to contain.  


Cobalt stood back up straight and grinned. “We did it!” he yelled, holding up a hand for a high five, “Come on, you know we’re a good team.”

 

Exhausted Keith resigned himself to the high five, slapping his hand against Cobalt’s sloppily. “What a creep,” Keith said breathlessly, “Couldn’t win so he blows himself up. Sore loser.”  


Cobalt shrugged, “Bad guys right. What was that stuff he was saying before to you?”  


“Probably nothing, just stalling so he could have enough time to build up to exploding.”  


Cobalt nodded and shrugged again. “Whatever,” he decided, “I’ve got places to be. Not all of us have as much free time as The Crimson Crusader.”

 

“Watch it,” Keith warned. He thought for a moment and begrudgingly added, “You should get that burn looked at. It’s pretty bad.”  


Cobalt gestured and some of the water lying on the street floated over to him, dropping out dirt as it went until it was only pure water. He held it against his face.  


“I can’t believe I already forgot he gave me this,” Cobalt sighed, “It better not leave a mark. Without a pretty face I’m nothing.”  


Keith began to float up, done with talking to Cobalt, “I guess you’re nothing then,” he grinned, shooting off into the sky before Cobalt could get another word in.

 

*******  
  
If Keith’s day could just have one disaster like that he’d be happy. He had a nice lunch date planned with Lance and a new set of puppies had been brought in for training, so it was going to be a perfect day. Nothing better than baby dogs and his boyfriend buying him greasy burgers.  


As if Keith would be so lucky though-just five minutes before Keith would’ve got to the burger place he got a text from Lance.

 

**-boss needs me to stay in over lunch, i’ll make it up to you tonight ;))))) :3**

**-also i found a picture of a stingray that looks just like you**

**-{attachment}**

 

Keith had to admit, the stingray did have the same grumpy face Keith did sometimes, and the red colouring did match a lot of his outfits, but it didn’t lift his spirits much. He’d come halfway across town for nothing.  Keith typed out a response on his phone.

 

**-It’s okay <3**

**-The stingray was cute too.**

**-Wanna take me out for dinner if you’re refusing me lunch? I know you can afford it**

 

Keith slid the phone back into his pocket, knowing Lance likely wouldn’t reply for several hours. His boss tended to keep him pretty busy.  


Keith was rocked out of his thoughts by a scream nearby, and what sounded like a sonic boom. Racing to a nearby alley Keith swapped clothes and sped towards danger for the second time that day.  


This time though, Keith wasn’t first to the scene. Cobalt was there, again, already laying the smackdown on someone Keith had been up against before-a bank robber with incredible strength and flash tech called Myzax. Not the best name but a fearsome opponent if you weren’t fast enough. It seemed like Cobalt had figured it out thought.

 

Myzax’s one trick was his staff, which sent out an orb which would give some nasty damage if it hit you, before returning to his staff. If you could dodge the orb and attack the villain whilst it recharged, then get away, he was practically powerless. Cobalt was doing this fairly well, landing some good hits on him. Keith watched Myzax get close to being beat and swept in.

 

As Myzax threw the orb out Keith flew down over it and breathed out frost. The orb froze midair and fell to the floor with a _CLUNK_. Myzax was briefly surprised by Keith’s sudden appearance and he took advantage of this to give Myzax a good punch across the face, knocking him out cold. Keith settled to the ground and smiled smugly at Cobalt.

  
“I guess he couldn’t catch this after all that,” Keith said, proud of the one liner that he definitely didn’t steal from Lance after he’d once beaten Keith at Wii Sports Boxing.

 

Cobalt stared in shock at the scene in front of him. “First of all, that line was awful and completely ruined the one I had planned. Secondly, I had him, you didn’t need to step in.”

 

“Whatever you say Cobby, but from where I was standing you were taking too long.” Keith smirked inwardly, making sure to keep all the banter PG and heroic. People were starting to come out from their hiding places, and image was vital to their super-careers continuing without persecution from the government.

  
Cobalt forced a smile. “Thanks Crimson, so glad you interrupted your day just to help me out like that.”  


Keith ignored Cobalt’s subtle jibe as he recognised the burn that Dairugger had left across his face earlier that day-Cobalt’s skin was still blistered but it looked far more than a few hours old, as if it had been there almost a week.

  
“Glad to help,” Keith smiled back. He shot up into the air, leaving Cobalt with his new fans, wondering if had enough time to visit the cafe that did the toasties he liked.

 

******  


The rest of the day at work was uneventful-the puppies turned out to be much less into playing and learning how to follow commands as they were into sleeping. It gave Keith time to catch up on paperwork and watch news footage of him catching a couple of muggers a week earlier.-he hadn’t a had a clever line for them but it wasn’t eating him up inside.  


His phone buzzed again at some point before work ended but he missed it-it wasn’t until he was leaving the building and putting on music he caught it. Lance had messaged him.

 

**-i guess i have to buy you dinner now don’t i**

**-you hear about that fire near ours earlier?**

 

Keith’s heart jumped a little bit, reading Lance refer to the apartment as ‘ours’, something he hadn’t done before.

 

**-apparently cobalt put it out and caught the guy that set it. he’s so cool i can’t believe you could of met him**

 

Keith narrowed his eyes at this-Cobalt already annoyed him in his other life, he wouldn’t let him ruin his personal life too.

 

**-Crimson Crusader was there too, all Cobalt did was step in at the end.**

 

Lance replied fast enough that he’d probably been writing the response before Keith sent off his.

 

**-i’m feeling thai tonight, you in?**

 

Keith smiled at his phone like a lovestruck idiot.

 

**-See you at Siam Siam at 6**

 

Keith headed home and changed out of his costume, deciding tonight would be an evening he wouldn’t be a super. Since Lance had moved in he’d taken more nights off from being The Crimson Crusader. He decided that the world would be able to look after itself every so often, and so far he’d been right. No meteor had threatened all life. No supervillain had poisoned the water supply. No global crisis had needed him.

 

Lance was waiting outside the Thai place by the time Keith got there. He was wearing the same outfit he’d been in when they parted that morning, meaning he’d obviously not had a chance to get home yet. When they hugged Lance smelt like seafood.

 

“You smell like seafood,” Keith told Lance as they went in and waited to be seated. Lance shrugged.  


“You smell like loser. We both have our issues.”

 

It wasn’t for another ten minutes that Keith noticed Lance had been hurt. It made him ashamed-Lance had a soft bruise mark on his face and he didn’t even notice.

 

“Oh this?” Lance said, when Keith asked about it, “Someone spilled some water cleaning thing on me. We got it off fast so the mark should be gone by tomorrow.”

 

Keith leant across the table and traced the mark down his face. The freckles on the part of his face affected were all out of place, pointed all wrong. Lance winced slightly when Keith pressed it, and Keith wanted to take Lance home and hug him. He was hurt. No matter how many powers he had, how many bad guys he took down and lives he saved, Keith couldn’t even protect Lance properly. He was hurt.

 

“I’m okay hotshot,” Lance said, taking Keith’s hand from his face and softly kissing it, “I’ll be back to normal by tomorrow morning I promise.”

 

“I don’t like you getting hurt,” Keith murmured, but let Lance hold his hand a moment longer, “What if something big happened and I wasn’t there? This city has a lot of bad stuff in it.”

 

“If it’s too big for me, it’s too big for you,” Lance said, “I’ll be fine. First sign of trouble I’ll run away, I promise. Even if I see The Crimson Crusader coming.”

 

Keith gave a soft smile. “You used to get kidnapped constantly and saved by that guy,” he said, remembering rescuing him more than remembering Lance recounting it. “If he’s around I think you’d be safe.”

 

The two boys’ eyes met and they shared a soft moment-Keith wished he could just stay in that moment, looking at Lance, the person he loved above all else.  


Fate decided he wasn’t allowed to.

 

All at once the glass windows of the restaurant shattered inwards, throwing glass over their table and throwing wind into the restaurant. Keith was pushed back from his seat and landed on the floor. Lance too was on the floor and crawled closer to him until they were both hunkered behind their table, carefully avoiding the broken glass that surrounded.

 

Keith had left his costume at home like an idiot, and now Lance was in danger because of it. He couldn’t have nights off afterall, and this was proof. He needed a way to find out what the threat was and deal with it without anyone seeing him.

  
“There’s gotta be an exit in the kitchen,” Lance whispered to Keith, surprisingly calm given what was going on, “I used to work in one, it’s a health and safety thing. There has to be two exits in case of fire. If we can get to the kitchen door we’ll be able to sneak out.”

 

If Keith could get Lance through the door then he could head outside and see what was going on. He looked over the restaurant. There were other customers looking frightened and hiding on the floor too. A spotlight from outside rolled over the interior.

 

 _Whoever or whatever did this is after something_ Keith thought to himself _Which means that they don’t know where it is._

 

“You need to get to the kitchen,” Keith whispered, “Make sure there’s an exit. If we both go then we might get trapped. I’ll try to get the other customers out too.”

 

“You go, I’ll stay and get them through.”

 

“It was my idea, you go. We can’t argue this.”

 

“I’m not leaving you.”

 

Keith’s lips found Lance’s and he held him there for a moment, both hands momentarily leaving the ground to cup his face tight, more aware than ever of the mark across his cheek.  


“You have to,” Keith whispered. Lance nodded and gave another, shorter kiss. They shared a look of understanding and the two of them moved. Keith darted, inhumanly fast, between tables. He watched Lance as he did, as his boyfriend managed to slip through the kitchen door unnoticed. A moment later his head poked out and he nodded to Keith. He was safe and had found an exit.

 

Keith bolted across the room, standing up for just a moment, to where a family huddled scared out their wits. If he were Cobalt Keith would’ve been able to calm them so easily. But he wasn’t Cobalt. Keith wasn’t even The Crimson Crusader tonight. He was Lance’s boyfriend and he’d be damned if he’d let him down.

 

“Hey,” Keith whispered to the family-man, woman, elderly woman, two kids. Easy enough, “We need to go. There’s a door in the kitchen you can get out through. All you have to do is sneak over there.” He smiled at the kids. “Like a game of hide and seek. Moving from hiding spots right? Can you do that?”  


“If we stay here,” the elderly woman said, “Some hero will come save us. I’ve lived in Voltropolis my entire life. I know how these things go.”  


“I’m the only hero you’ll get today,” Keith said, hating all over again that he didn’t have a costume, “And another hero might not come. So you can stay here if you really want to but you can’t let the kids stay too.”

 

“We have to go,” the younger woman said, holding the hand of the man, “Mom it’s not safe.”  


The older woman grumbled something about her loud joints giving them away. The woman and man shared a kiss and the man picked up one of the kids and started sneaking toward the kitchen door. After he was through the woman hugged her mom, grabbed her kid and made her way through the door as well. Keith looked at the elderly woman.  


“I’ll give you away, leave me here,” she demanded. Keith wished Cobalt could help him right now, no matter how annoying he was.  


“No one left behind, that’s not how it works,” Keith told her quietly, “Think about how those kids would feel if the last they saw of you was huddled behind a table waiting for someone else to come save you.”

 

The woman sniffed, “Not dignified,” she replied, “I’ll go but I won’t be fast.”

 

Keith looked around the restaurant and saw that other customers were succeeding in copying what Lance had started and were making their way into the kitchen. One waiter was trying to lure a lone diner through whilst two girls, hand in hand, made their way over. They’d be spotted eventually.  


“Go now,” Keith told the woman, “I’ll make sure you get there.”  


Keith stood up tall from behind the table and ran toward the door, using his strength to make sure he didn’t accidentally move faster than a normal person would now that he was visible to all those in the place. Quickly the spotlight returned to the restaurant and Keith broke outside.

 

A large purple tank sat in the middle of the streets with what looked like a sonic cannon on top attached to the spotlight.

 

 _That explained the windows_.

 

“Who are you to stand against me?” a voice in the tank said inside, “Who dares?”  


“Leave these people alone,” Keith demanded in response, “They have done nothing to hurt you.”

 

Keith could hear a snarl in the tank driver’s voice, “I am not to be trifled with small man. Go cower inside and enjoy your last few pathetic moments before I crush the life out of you and everyone else on this street.”

 

 _She’s not after something, she just wants to do damage_ Keith realised _I need to stop her fast._

 

“Why do you want to kill us? If I’m going to die, I deserve to know that!”

 

The woman in the tank laughed, “Knowledge or Death huh! Your deaths will bring the Paladins to me and I will crush them too!”

 

“They’ll stop you,” Keith promised, “You’ll achieve nothing but senseless slaughter.”

 

“Then I’ll start with you.” The top of the tank opened and a woman climbed out, broad and strong. Her hair stuck out either side of her head and her eyes were a darker purple than her tank. She raised her fists. “You have the honour of dying at the hands of General Zethrid. Pray it’s fast.”  


The woman leapt at Keith unbelievably fast; he barely had time to jump out the way before she landed on the tarmac of the road with a sickening crunch. The spot she’d landed on was splintered under her force. Keith’s phone buzzed.

 

Lord if Lance knew what he was doing then Zethrid would be the least of his problems.  


She snarled and charged him, which gave Keith an idea. She was operating on anger and force. He wasn’t a hero right now, so he couldn’t use his powers without giving away who he was and giving her even more reason to kill him. But she wasn’t thinking, which was something Keith could use.  


Keith ran down the street, further from the Thai restaurant, almost fast enough to call into question if he was truly ‘normal’ and yelled out at Zethrid.  


“Is it just me or can you smell loser right now?” He mimed sniffing his armpit. “Definitely not me!”  


_Thanks Lance_ .  


Zethrid howled in rage and charged down the street at Keith like an angry bull and Keith jumped out the way at the last second and bolted at full speed to the tank, hatch still open. He climbed it and hopped down the hatch before Zethrid had a chance to turn around and see where he was.

 

The inside of the tank was a confusing series of buttons, levers and screens that Keith didn’t understand. There was a big red button that he decided to avoid and several smaller ones he assumed controlled the weapon systems. He could see through one screen the outside, where Zethrid was tearing down the street at the tank. Keith saw the steering wheel and pedals and grinned.  


The tank lurched forward and its hatch clanged shut with the motion. “What’s wrong Zethrid?” Keith taunted, hearing his voice automatically amplified outside. “Chicken?”

 

The two of them slammed into each other, Zethrid with much more force but the tank with much more stability. She pounded her fists on the outside and Keith heard the metal dent.  


“Get!” **_SLAM_ ** “Out!” **_SLAM_ ** “My!” **_SLAM_ ** “Tank!”  


The screen inside the tank that showed Zethrid’s attacks flashed and went to static, taking away Keith’s only advantage. Now he was trapped in a metal box with an angry, super-strong woman outside wanting to kill him.  


_Great going hotshot_ .  


“How do you know it’s not his?” said a new voice, smug and proud, “I mean you’re the one trapped outside of it.”  


From the sounds of it Cobalt had arrived. Oh how Keith had hoped it would’ve been The Golden Goliath or The Princess or The Jade Jumper to come help out. Instead he gets the exact person he could’ve used about five minutes earlier. Great.

 

Zethrid roared at Cobalt and Keith knew he had to help somehow. Cobalt wasn’t big on the smarts or the fighting. If Cobalt could get his hands on Zethrid’s head he could put her to sleep though…

 

A dumb idea formed in Keith’s head.  


Keith lifted the hatch of the tank and hopped down-Cobalt was using his super speed to dodge her punches but it wouldn’t last. He caught Cobalt’s eye and gestured putting hands on either side of his head. Cobalt frowned but it’d have to do.

 

“I thought you wanted to lure all the Paladins here Hagrid?” keith Cooed.

 

“My name,” Zethrid span around, her face a picture of fury, “Is Zethrid!”  


She charged at Keith, forgetting Cobalt for a moment, and Keith stood his ground, confident his super ally could save him. The last thing he heard before everything went dark was Cobalt shouting “Keith!”  


*******  


When Keith’s eyes opened he was lying in bed in the apartment. Lance was in a chair next to him, head dipped down low, as sun shone through the cheap curtains. Keith sat up and felt a pounding pain in his head.  


“Ow,” he commented, enough to wake up Lance.

 

“Keith!” Lance yelled before tackle-hugging him in bed, “You’re okay, you’re okay!”  


“Head hurt,” he commented, “Less hug please.”

 

Lance kissed Keith hard and pulled away and punched him.  


“You idiot!” he shouted, “You make me promise to run away from trouble and then you try to take on a super villain?”

 

Keith looked down, ashamed that he’d been such a hypocrite to his boyfriend. Lance didn’t know he had powers, of course he’d be worried.  


“I’m okay aren’t I?” he said softly, taking Lance’s hand, “It’s all okay. I won’t do it again.”  


_Liar_ .  


“You’re an idiot,” Lance grumbled, throwing himself down over Keith’s lap, “And I hate you.”  


Keith leant down and kissed Lance’s head. “I hate you too,” he replied.  


They stayed like that for a moment, Lance enjoying Keith’s safety and Keith enjoying Lance’s company until eventually Keith couldn’t wait to ask anymore. He needed to know.  


“What happened with Zethrid-that villain lady-after I was knocked out?”

 

Lance sighed, “Cobalt grabbed her by the head and put her to sleep, then tied her up with some rope he borrowed from the hardware store down the street. I found you outside knocked out whilst he was looking after you and we brought you back here.”

 

“Why not the hospital?”  


“He said he couldn’t sense you were that hurt and just needed bed rest. He made sure that you’d stay asleep all night.”

 

Keith nodded. “And Zethrid?”

 

“He took her to the Paladin HQ so he could find out more about her before handing her over to the police.”

 

“He told you that?”

 

Lance buried his face further into the blankets over Keith’s lap. “I asked because I knew you’d ask.”

 

Keith began to pet Lance’s hair. “Thank you for looking after me. I’m sorry I got hurt like that.”

 

“You really promise that you won’t do something dumb that puts you in danger like that again?”

 

Keith swallowed a difficult breath. “I promise,” he lied.

 

*******

 

The man with the long hair stood next to the woman without eyes in front of a large screen. His strongest ally stood on the screen being out maneuvered by a boy, probably barely nineteen, and captured by one of his least powerful foes. The video ended as his foe took the still living boy out of shot after tying up his ally.

 

“Play it again,” the man with the longer hair said to the woman without eyes. She lifted her hands and the scene played again.  


His eyes narrowed on the boy, barely nineteen. He recognised him.  


“Again,” he ordered.  


The scene played again. And again. The man with the long hair stopped focusing on everything except the speed the boy had, the cunning. He was familiar.  


“I know that boy,” the man with the long hair declared. He thought for a moment. “Consult Project Kuron. We need to find out more about him.”

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 huh?! It's much longer than the first (hope that's okay) and now there's some foreshadowing for future fics!! I'm hoping to write more of this but with exams etc it won't be out as soon as this one was. What do you wanna see? Where do you think it's going? Let me know!


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